In Open Records Letter No. 2000-3715, we determined that, because you did not submit to
this office a brief stating the reasons why the exceptions you claimed excepted the submitted
information from public disclosure, the City of Houston (the "city") must release the majority
of information under sections 552.301 and 552.302.(1) You now assert that you did in fact timely submit the brief to this office. You have submitted to this office an affidavit attesting to the fact that on July 18, 2000, you submitted to this office a letter informing us of the
exceptions you planned to raise to support your argument to withhold the requested
information. You state in the affidavit that on July 25, 2000, you drafted the legal argument,
signed it, gathered and marked all the exhibits, placed the legal argument on top of the
exhibits and gave them to your secretary to put in an envelope you had already prepared.
You state that your secretary inserted the documents in an envelope and sealed it. You further
state that your legal assistant took the envelope to the post office for delivery and that the
documents were sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, and the receipt was signed
and returned to you. You provide this office with the July 18, 2000 letter, the brief in dispute
and the return receipt form.

After review of your affidavit and our records, we conclude that we will consider your
arguments in support of the exceptions you have raised to withhold the requested information
from public disclosure.

You state that the information at issue consists of records of an internal investigation located
in the file of the Houston Police Department Internal Affairs Unit of the Office of Inspector
General. You maintain that this department file is made confidential by section 143.089(g)
of the Local Government Code.

Section 143.089(g) reads as follows:

A fire or police department may maintain a personnel file on a fire
fighter or police officer employed by the department for the
department's use, but the department may not release any information
contained in the department file to any agency or person requesting
information relating to a fire fighter or police officer. The department
shall refer to the director [of the civil-service commission] or the
director's designee a person or agency that requests information that
is maintained in the fire fighter's or police officer's personnel file.

Subsection (g) authorizes city police and fire departments to maintain for their own use a file
on a police officer or fire fighter that is separate from the file maintained by the city civil
service commission. "The department may not release any information contained in the
department file to any agency or person," but instead "the department shall refer to the
director [of the civil-service commission] or the director's designee a person or agency that
requests information that is maintained in the fire fighter's or police officer's personnel file."
Local Gov't Code § 143.089(g); seeCity of San Antonio v. Texas Attorney Gen., 851 S.W.2d 946, 952 (Tex. App.--Austin, 1993, writ denied).

The court in City of San Antonio addressed the availability of information that is contained in the department's internal file pursuant to section 143.089(g). The court determined that
section 143.089(g) makes confidential any records kept in a department's internal file. City
of San Antonio v. Texas Attorney Gen., 851 S.W.2d 946 (Tex. App.--Austin 1993, writ
denied) (in construing section 143.089, the court found general legislative policy that
allegations of misconduct against police officers and fire fighters not be subject to compelled
disclosure unless they have been substantiated and resulted in disciplinary action).

You inform this office that the allegations of misconduct are still under investigation and that
no disciplinary action has been taken against the police officer. Consequently, we conclude
that the requested records that are maintained only within the section 143.089(g) file are
confidential and may not be disclosed. We note, however, that some of these documents
relate to a criminal investigation. Thus, if these records exist elsewhere, outside the
section 143.089(g) file, these records would be subject to disclosure under the Public
Information Act unless another exception to disclosure is applicable.

As for the responsive records that may exist outside the department's section 143.089(g)
file, we consider your section 552.108 claim. Section 552.108 of the Government Code states
that information held by a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that deals with the
detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime is excepted from required public disclosure
"if release of the information would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution
of crime." Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(1). You inform us that the requested information
pertains to a police investigation that is still open and ongoing. You state that the statute of
limitations has not yet run. We therefore believe that the release of the information "would
interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime."

We note, however, that information normally found on the front page of an offense report
is generally considered public. See generally Gov't Code §552.108(c); Houston Chronicle Publ'g Co. v. City of Houston, 531 S.W.2d 177 (Tex. Civ. App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 1975), writ ref'd n.r.e. per curiam, 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976); Open Records Decision No. 127 (1976). Thus, you must release the types of information that are considered to be front page offense report information, even if this information is not actually located on the front page
of the offense report. Indeed, you state that the city will provide the requestor "the public
release information page of the offense report."

In summary, the city's affidavit establishes that the city complied with section 552.301 of the
Government Code. Consequently, section 552.302 does not come into play in this request
and we will consider the city's raised exceptions. Based on section 552.101 of the
Government Code in conjunction with section 143.089(g) of the Local Government Code,
the city must withhold the information that consists of the departmental personnel file.
Based on section 552.108 of the Government Code, the city may withhold from disclosure
records held outside the department file, except to the extent such records consists of front
page basic information. Open Records Letter No. 2000-3715 is overruled to the extent that
it conflicts with this decision.

This letter ruling is limited to the particular records at issue in this request and limited to the
facts as presented to us; therefore, this ruling must not be relied upon as a previous
determination regarding any other records or any other circumstances.

This ruling triggers important deadlines regarding the rights and responsibilities of the
governmental body and of the requestor. For example, governmental bodies are prohibited
from asking the attorney general to reconsider this ruling. Gov't Code § 552.301(f). If the
governmental body wants to challenge this ruling, the governmental body must appeal by
filing suit in Travis County within 30 calendar days. Id. § 552.324(b). In order to get the full
benefit of such an appeal, the governmental body must file suit within 10 calendar days.
Id. § 552.353(b)(3), (c). If the governmental body does not appeal this ruling and the
governmental body does not comply with it, then both the requestor and the attorney general
have the right to file suit against the governmental body to enforce this ruling. Id.
§ 552.321(a).

If this ruling requires the governmental body to release all or part of the requested
information, the governmental body is responsible for taking the next step. Based on the
statute, the attorney general expects that, within 10 calendar days of this ruling, the
governmental body will do one of the following three things: 1) release the public records;
2) notify the requestor of the exact day, time, and place that copies of the records will be
provided or that the records can be inspected; or 3) notify the requestor of the governmental
body's intent to challenge this letter ruling in court. If the governmental body fails to do one
of these three things within 10 calendar days of this ruling, then the requestor should report
that failure to the attorney general's Open Government Hotline, toll free, at 877/673-6839.
The requestor may also file a complaint with the district or county attorney. Id.
§ 552.3215(e).

If this ruling requires or permits the governmental body to withhold all or some of the
requested information, the requestor can appeal that decision by suing the governmental
body. Id. § 552.321(a); Texas Department of Public Safety v. Gilbreath, 842 S.W.2d 408,411 (Tex. App.--Austin 1992, no writ).

Please remember that under the Act the release of information triggers certain procedures for
costs and charges to the requestor. If records are released in compliance with this ruling, be
sure that all charges for the information are at or below the legal amounts. Questions or
complaints about over-charging must be directed to Hadassah Schloss at the General
Services Commission at 512/475-2497.

If the governmental body, the requestor, or any other person has questions or comments
about this ruling, they may contact our office. Although there is no statutory deadline for
contacting us, the attorney general prefers to receive any comments within 10 calendar days
of the date of this ruling.

1. In Open Records Letter No.2000-3715, we also determined that the city may withhold from disclosure portions of the requested information based on sections 552.101 and 552.130 of the Government Code. You do not ask us to review those determinations.